Latest Asia Pacific News
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Campaign to merge US with Australia fails
THE campaign to force US President Barack Obama to look at merging the US and Australia to create a new super nation called Ameristralia, where inhabitants eat hotdogmeatpies and the coat of arms features a bald eagle with a koala's head, is dead. A petition on the White House's official website calling for the US and Australia merger failed on Friday to receive the 100,000 signatures ...
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China Considers Luxury Tax
Luxury products have become an important niche in the booming China consumer story. And as part of the country's tax reform plans this year, they could get hit with the first ever luxury tax, said Kong Jingyuan, a director-general at the National Development and Reform Commission. The guidelines for tax reforms were published by the Central Government on ...
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China Swiss sign MOU on concluding FTA talks
/enpproperty--> BERNE - China and Switzerlandon Friday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on concluding negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA). The MOU was signed during a meeting between visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Swiss President Ueli Maurer. The two sides also announced the establishment of a financial dialogue ...
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The Prime Minister of Japan Wants Everyone to Know Hes Not Afraid of Ghosts
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet on Friday formally denied months-long rumours that the premier had not moved into his official residence over fears the mansion is haunted. The conservative leader took office in December but has yet to move into the 11-room brick home in central Tokyo, the longest holdout among any of his predecessors, according to local media. Abe’s ...
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Swiss free trade deal underscores Chinas globalisation Li
BERNE, Switzerland (AFP) - Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Friday hailed a free trade deal with Switzerland as a landmark achievement, saying it had "huge meaning" for global trade and underscored Beijing's growing openness to the world."This free trade deal is the first between China and a continental European economy, and the first with one of the 20 leading economies of the ...
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UPDATE 1-U.S. audit regulator reaches deal with China on document access
Fri May 24, 2013 4:14pm EDT * U.S.-China deal reached after years of negotiations * Deal will pave way for auditor enforcement actions * U.S. had been blocked from probing Chinese audit failures By Dena Aubin and Sarah N. Lynch NEW YORK, May 24 (Reuters) - U.S. regulators will get access to Chinese companies' audit documents under a deal announced on Friday, opening the way to probes of ...
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North Korea may open to day-tripping tourists
Tourism companies say they are preparing for North Korea to allow visitors to cross from Dandong City, China, to Sinuiju, North Korea's largest border town. The British newspaper The Daily Telegraph said if reports by Chinese news agencies are true that the Pyongyang government will permit expanded tourism, the resort community almost impossible for Western tourists to reach will be ...
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Philippines apologises to Taiwan over fishermans death
The Philippines on Wednesday apologised to Taiwan after coastguards shot dead a Taiwanese fisherman sparking tensions that saw Taipei threaten a naval exercise near Philippine waters. Taiwan "foreign minister" David Lin told reporters that "the Philippines has voiced deep regret and apology for the incident" after a closed-door meeting with Antonio Basilio, the de facto ...
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Glow-in-Dark Roach Worlds Smallest Frog Among Top New Species
A cockroach that glows in the dark, a black fungus that's ruining prehistoric cave art and a frog smaller than a child's fingernail. These are three in a top-ten list of newly discovered species for 2012. An international committee of taxonomists announced their annual picks this ...
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Nepal’s Tibetan Refugees Struggle Under China’s Shadow
KATHMANDU -- Tibetan refugees in Nepal say they face increasing restrictions from Nepalese authorities due to pressure from China. VOA correspondent Aru Pande talks to Tibetans who, for decades, have made the Himalayan country their home. Dolma Lama learned to weave Tibetan carpets from her mother - who fled Tibet and settled in Kathmandu after a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese ...
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Video South Korean comfort women want apology from Japan
Former so-called 'comfort women' from South Korea cancel their meeting with Japan's Mayor of Osaka after he said forcing women into wartime military brothels was "necessary". Lily Grimes ...
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Slideshow Top 10 States Exporting to China
Nearly everyone knows the United States imports a lot from China (and if you don't, you're probably not a regular reader of The Journal of Commerce), but American companies are increasingly exporting more to the Asian manufacturing juggernaut, too. The U.S. exported $108.6 billion worth of goods to China last year, 6.5 percent more than a year earlier, according to a recent U.S.-China ...
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China Sentiment Indicator Flops
Nice try. China's economy losing momentum. China business leaders preparing for rainier days. China continues to disappoint. Following HSBC Flash PMI going below 50, and below consensus, on Friday one of the big business surveys on China says sentiment in the C-suite is souring. ...
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China Has Growth But Were Tapping The Brakes On Ford At $15
Ford Motors have rallied more than 20% in the past three months on the back of solid North American operations, some improvement in Europe and surging sales in China. Ford's Chinese sales have surged 49% through April, and the world's largest auto market now accounts for about a sixth of the automaker's global sales. Sales have been helped by the Focus and the Kuga, both of which ...
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Taiwan lowers forecast for 13 GDP growth to 2.4
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The Directorate General of Budget, Accounting & Statistics (DGBAS) yesterday lowered its 2013 growth forecast for Taiwan by 1.19 percent to 2.4 percent, after the performance in the first quarter fell far below ...
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Bosch Taiwan works toward improved sales results in 2013
"After experiencing significant growth in the past years, our sales were subdued under the circumstances of high economic uncertainty in both the local and global economy in 2012. We aim to improve our sales performance in the current year despite the continuous influence of the considerable economic risks," said Bernd Barkey, managing director of Bosch Taiwan. "Despite the ...
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Yen trade volatile in Asia along with Japan market
TOKYO--Yen trading was volatile in Asia on Friday in tandem with wild swings on the Tokyo stock market, but some analysts said the Japanese currency's weakening trend was likely to ...
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China manufacturing sees 1st fall in 7 months HSBC
BEIJING -- Manufacturing activity in China contracted in May for the first time in seven months, HSBC said Thursday, in another sign of the weakness of recovery in the world's second-largest ...
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Taiwan forms cloud computing initiative to join Facebook project
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- In an effort to participate in Facebook's Open Computing Project (OCP), Taiwan's academia and enterprises yesterday joined forces, announcing plans to establish a certification center and standards to govern hardware specifications ...
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TAIEX dives on US Fed concerns China data
Selling, in particular, accelerated after HSBC Holdings and Markit Economics reported a worse-than-expected Chinese Purchasing Manager's Index (PMI) for May, which made concerns over the regional economy run deeper, the dealers said. Large-cap stocks such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the most weighted stock in the local bourse, faced heavy profit-taking pressure after ...
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Taliban Attack in Kabul Tests Afghan Forces
KABUL, Afghanistan ...
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Pakistan releases 45 Indian fishermen from Karachi prison
prison in Karachi on Friday.After the release, the prisoners boarded a bus that drove them to Lahore where they will be handed over to the Indian authorities at the Wagah-Attari land border checkpost.The fishermen were released on the orders of caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso."As many as 45 fishermen, who have completed their jail term, are now being repatriated to India. ...
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Motion Filtering Ability Correlated to High IQ
Researchers at the University of Rochester in New York state say they can predict a person’s intelligence quotient, or IQ, using some simple visual tests. Test subjects were asked to watch brief video clips of black and white bars moving across a computer screen within three different sized circles. They were asked to identify in which direction the bars drifted. The exercise ...
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Planemaker Embraer Sees American Closing Out US Regional Jet Cycle
SAO PAULO -- Embraer SA, the world's third-largest commercial jet maker, expects just one more big regional jet order as a result of its current U.S. sales campaign, Chief Executive Officer Frederico Curado said in an interview, after the Brazilian planemaker clinched three of four major deals since December. "After the American Airlines competition, the game is over for a ...
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Obama Plan to Close Guantanamo Prison Faces Significant Obstacles
Activists wearing orange jumpsuits mark the 100th day of prisoners' hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay during a protest in front of the White House in Washington May 17, ...
Osaka Digest
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Osaka sees first InterContinental hotel built
Osaka is a major travel destination within Japan and the wider Asian region for business travelers and leisure tourists alike. The city is an economic powerhouse and part of the backbone of the Japanese economy. It makes sense for InterContinental to finally open a hotel here then.
Osaka is the second command center of the Japanese economy after Tokyo, with a daytime and nighttime population that reflects the massive draw of the city as an economic powerhouse. Read more
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